Has anyone ever heard the voice of a deity?

[Modem Butterfly]

I'm not talking allegory here. I mean an audible voice.

If so, what did s/he/it/they say?

[MsTryska]

1. I had a dream once

where God (in the shape of a fire on the roof of a skyscraper) and i had a chat, but in real waking life? No, can't say that i have.

[nashville_brook]

24. that's oddly 9-11! eek!

[MsTryska]

25. well no not really.

i guess that did sound kind of creepy, but God's rooftop fire was more like an altar. Kinda like the "eternal flame" in DC, is it?


Marble square-shaped pit with a fire burning in it?

it was all very pretty and white marble.


oh and it happenned in the early 90s. Like 91, i think i had it.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Sure

Oops, I thought you asked "has anyone ever had anyone talk dirty to them?"

[meegbear]

3. I think you mean deity

The last time a diety spoke to me, I was off it in a week.

[Modem Butterfly]

9. LOL!

My bad.

[Itchinjim]

4. Me, but I think it may have been the LSD.

[AlCzervik]

5. if you count the little man that lives in my index finger then....

yes.:evilgrin:

But in all seriousness, if a deity did speak to me then i wasn't aware of it.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Does it say

"redrum"? ;) I've never heard a diety but I have heard spirits. That was really weird. The first time I heard a spirit I was home by myself and was walking to turn on the tv for noise and heard a male say "hey" and I so freaked out. Then another time I was in the bathroom and the same male said "sorry." :shrug: I've helped spirits in the past and once I had a spirit girl come to me and ask me for help and I heard her speak and a few other experiences similiar to these.

[papau]

6. what is "audible" - and is thought from seeing not as valid as thought

from hearing?

And since if the event happened it is by definition not reproducible and subject to human menory limitations.

So where do we go with someone witnessing to an "audible voice " as you asked about.

I understand Joan of Arc heard voices.

[Modem Butterfly]

10. As in, did you hear it?

Or did you only think words to yourself and ascribe them to a deity?

[papau]

22. As in who knows - any eyewitness can be talked out of what really happened

ask any lawyer -

and with age the memory fails.

And was it a dream?

If you want proof of God so as to have a belief in God through something other than faith, I am afraid you have a hopeless task ahead of you.

[amazona]

7. what's your definition of a deity?

The Big Guy, assuming there is one, which seems unlikely -- you have none or many of something, not just one -- has been suspiciously silent.

I've heard a comment or two from invisibles. Not sure they should be considered deities just because they can't be seen. I have a sneaking suspicion they have less power than we do in most ways. How much could you get done if you lacked a physical body?

At least one of the comments I was told turned out to be wrong.

So if the invisibles want to talk, they're welcome, but their words will be tested like the words of any other.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[FreedomAngel82]

32. A diety is

just a god or a goddess whether it's God or another. And you're right on you should test their words. Not just blindly believe. Just like here on earth with humans and stuff. I've had some things happen and when I have doubts the Universe always shows me some type of sign that I'm on the right track. :)

[gumby]

8. He was just on my TV

Speaking from Michigan or somewhere else in the ethers.

[ladjf]

11. In psychiatric practice people who talk directly with God or

hear audible voices are usually considered to be schizophrenic. But, if one happens to be President, he/she is revered as anointed.
America, are you OK? You've been acting strangely lately.

[reprobate]

99. In his case it's not "anointed". It's annoying!

[BuyingThyme]

12. On several occasions, I've heard the God who sent GWB into Iraq...

His name is Donald Rumsfeld.

[Az]

13. Clarify

When you say audible you mean an externally audible voice. Not an internal privately directed voice. Right.

[Modem Butterfly]

16. Precisely.

Any idiot can say some bullshit to themselves and ascribe it to God. Witness the current occupant of the White House.

[IrateCitizen]

14. Yes, actually I have...

I had a dream several years ago in which I was being approached by a sphere of intense light and energy that seemed like a displacement in space and time. I was frozen in fear from the raw power that eminated from it, and as much as I wanted to run, I couldn't.

When I was enveloped by this "sphere", I remember feeling a complete and absolute bliss the likes of which I have never felt again before or since, and I cannot describe. At the same time, the presence I was in was so powerful it felt as if it were literally ripping my being apart. There was no malevolence with this -- the only feeling I felt was pure love and bliss -- it was just that the presence was so overwhelming, and even though I was being ripped apart, I didn't ever want to leave. There was a blinding, white light that surrounded and enveloped everything. I wouldn't say that it was a separate being, as much as it was just an overwhelming force, a presence. I guess I could try to describe it as the sense of being in the presence of all the collective life in this universe and all others at the same time.

Time had no meaning. I felt as if I was there for an eternity and a nanosecond at the same time. I "felt" a voice that was, at the same time, as loud as a thunderclap next to me and as soft as a whisper. It said, "Don't worry, you're one of the chosen ones. It's the others who need to be afraid...."

It was at that moment that I was thrown from this presence, and I then woke up. I remember my initial feeling upon awakening to actually be anger. I was angry that I wasn't in that presence anymore, I didn't want to leave. Then, I was overcome by emotion and couldn't think about anything besides it.

Since then, my life has changed in a lot of ways. I became much more committed to the ideas of justice and peace. I sought status as a conscientious objector in the military (I was an officer in the Army Reserve). I started working toward a degree that will enable me to leave my present occupation and become a teacher. I've become much more focused in my life's work and happier as a result.

What I'm saying here isn't bullshit -- it really happened. You can all make of it what you want. I've interpreted its meaning in the way that speaks most to me.

[Az]

17. No reason to doubt your experience

Of course that is not where we would differ.

[IrateCitizen]

20. I'm well aware -- I debate this all the time with my fellow Unitarians...

... many of whom are staunch atheists. Then again, I find atheism to be as unyielding of a theology in many instances as fundamentalists. IMHO, the only track that one can take that is truly free from ideology is to be an agnostic -- you can't prove God exists, and you can't prove God doesn't exist, so you just admit that you really don't know one way or the other.

[Az]

21. But

If one becomes aware of similar occurrences with mundane explanations it is not mere obstinacy that lends itself to doubting certain aspects. Rather it is understanding what may be going on. I do not know enough about your event to comment fully on it. But I have met numerous individuals with similar experiences. I do not dismiss them. The events are too meaningful to them. But this does not mean that I do not imagine a possible explanation.

[IrateCitizen]

23. Possible explanation???

What exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean that my explanation is not a possible one? Or do you instead mean that my explanation is not one that fits in with your preconceived notions as an atheist? ;-)

[Az]

40. I should have said another possible explanation

Forgive me.

[MsTryska]

26. question?

was your "voice" distinctly gendered?

[IrateCitizen]

34. It wasn't a "voice" really. I "felt" it.

It was strangely like a booming thunderclap right next to me and the flitter of a butterfly's wings all at the same time. It's very difficult to describe, except to say it wasn't really a "voice" in the sense that you are speaking of.

And if you're trying to pin me down on the gender of "God", you're not about to succeed. This presence had no gender. Gender is a superficiality of the physical world in which we currently reside. This was completely a spiritual experience.

[MsTryska]

37. no i'm not trying to pin you down...

just looking for commonality with my god-dream.


mine as i mentioned above was a fire like the eternal flame visually, but the voice was this strange non-gendered voice. neither male nor female. i remember finding that really strange and wonderful.

[cags]

31. Wow

Its wierd to read this as I had a similar almost exact thing happen.

I've mostly kept it to myself as I think it was meant for me personally. And people will look at you as if your nuts, I freely admit I would have considered someone nuts too, before I had the experience. Unless it happens to you, you can not even comprehend because words aren't enough to explain it to someone.

But I was really going through a spiritual struggle at the time. I was raised a Baptist, but always questioned it and never found answers to my questions. So I started studying other religions and faiths etc.

I literally begged God for an answer, I needed to know what was the truth so bad. I'm a prove it or its not real kind of person, and I needed hard evidence.

I don't want to blindly follow a faith made up by men, I wanted truth, thats all. I feel that I got it. I have a peace and understanding about life that I never had before. Your right that you are forever changed by it.

Thanks for being brave enough to post it.

[IrateCitizen]

35. Yeah, I know people will look at me as if I'm nuts...

But you know what? I couldn't really give two shits one way or the other.

My experience has brought me a great deal of inner peace, has compelled me to pursue a positive path in life, and actually helped to push me in what I believe is the right direction of the questions to ask as opposed to providing answers.

You're also correct in saying that if you haven't had such an experience, you really can't truly begin to understand it. Discussing it in empirical terms only really detracts from it.

[FreedomAngel82]

38. Usually when a spirit from the other side

speaks to us mortals on this plane they speak telepathetically. So you can usually tell if the voice you hear is your own or another. It takes practice and sometimes you do think you're nuts. I know I have a few times but then the Universe always shows me some type of sign to show me I'm not. Heh heh.

[davekriss]

67. That is really beautiful, IC

:) Thanks for sharing!

And nothing strange about it. Read William James The Variety of Religious Experience, or talk to any number of us. These experiences (though of a variety) are more common than most people think. It's just taboo in our consumerist, "realist", rapacious society to speak of them.

Those of us that have them cherish them, understand that they're gifts, and recognize that their indelible mark is a permanent inner peace and joy.

May your light shine boldly! Peace and prosperity to you. And teach our children well!

[Lindacooks]

98. I've had something similar...

a dream where I was in the presence of a 'being' so full of love that I felt, like you did, the most absolute peace and bliss. Nothing like it in my waking experience has ever, ever come close.

And for a weird dream, I dreamt in December about a huge tsunami that crashed into my house - I saw it coming for miles and was totally paralyzed with fear. This was before the tsunami in SE Asia. I even remember feeling the 'thud' when the water hit the house.

[kk897]

101. IrateCitizen, I actually had a similar dream. Really.

Although I didn't get the nice message. It was a very realistic dream, though. When I woke, I was kind of annoyed. My first thought was, Geez, am I going to have to become a nun now? I was and remain an agnostic, but I'm interested in and study all sorts of spiritual practices and at the time was a major in Medieval Lit. The semester before, in Art History, we'd studied The Ecstacy of St. Theresa by Bernini, I believe. When you look at the roots of the word "ecstacy" and also this sculpture, I believe what you describe and what I experienced was an incidence of ecstacy. Whether from supernatural causes, I can't say. I still don't know what I believe (hence, "agnostic"). Still a very powerful experience that I will probably never forget.

[mordarlar]

112. I WITNESSED this. As a young girl...

i was "called" out of bed. I "knew" inside that i was somehow being "permitted". I went to an area where i peeked around a corner and i saw my father standing arched backed (he looked almost like he was asleep and being held upright by this force) in a light that was not a light. I heard a sound that was not really a sound telling my father that he had little time left. That he must "take care of things". I do not recall all that was said to him.

There was this overhwelming feeling that i was only seeing this because i was being "permitted" to. The presance knew i was there. It was comforting. Several weeks later i was talking to my mother. I mentioned "when i saw Daddy talking to God". My mother became concerned. She told me it was adream. I was very young and got very upset. I was CERTAIN it was not a dream. She asked my father. Do you remember talking to God? He said no. I did not say anymore about it. To this day, i will swear, memory says IT WAS NO DREAM. My father died a few years later at 32 in a car accidant.

I cried when i read your post. I understood. I have "seen" this. Without an experience in this you are correct, it is not comprehensible. I will NEVER forget that light and sound. EVER.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

15. i know someone who claims to have heard a voice

it was only once and the alleged deity uttered only the name of the of the person who "heard" it.

[Modem Butterfly]

18. This morning when I was just waking up I heard my mother's voice

I fall into a sort of half-sleep sometimes, where events and surroundings are incorporated into my dreams, and where I find it difficult or impossible to physically move. Sometimes, I perceive waking reality but the element of a dream will come back to me, like I'll be lying in bed barely dreaming I hear rain, but it's actually sunny. Anyway, this morning, I heard my mother's voice clear as day saying my name, in a conversational way, as though my back was to her and she was trying to get my attention. My mother lives 3,000 miles away though. I wonder if this sort of semi-dream state accounts for some of the reports of holy encounter?

[davekriss]

68. Reverie

When I used to have the luxury of waking up slowly, I would often wake up to a kind of half-sleep/half-awake state. I was lucid (aware), but I would drift in and out of conciousness of the environment. At one moment I would hear the sounds of traffic, birds in the trees, laughter in the streets; then, nothing, except the stream of unbounded consciousness. I was/am at my most playfully creative at those moments. Many a thesis, project, idea came freely to birth when dreaming/awake, when in free reverie!

Now, alas, I am a salary-man and have to awake to the blare of an alarm clock. Ugh!

[Cats Against Frist]

83. It's called sleep paralysis & hypnopompic & hypnogogic hallucinations

And I've gone swimming with multi-colored lobsters before, shouted down a skeleton that was standing in my doorway, and floated up through a giant hole in my ceiling. My boyfriend has also turned into a monk, and I've written on my bedroom wall like I was writing in sand.

It's brain chemicals -- nothing more. They think it's possible that it explains both near-death experiences, as well as alien abductions. It's fascinating, really. I believe, in Polynesia, or something, this dreamstate was so interwoven with the culture of young males, that some of them would die during these dreams or something. Google "Clete Kushida," who is at the Stanford Sleep Clinic -- he's the world's foremost expert, or something.

[Sophree]

89. I was literally touched by an angel.

I was also in a half-asleep/half-awake state, at least at first. I believe that people are at their most psychically receptive in this state- all of your subconscious defenses are down.

In half-dream state, I felt someone lift up my leg and kiss it repeatedly, lots of baby kisses. In my dream, I thought it was a man kissing my leg and I became frightened. I woke up shaking my leg. I opened my eyes and looked directly into the eyes of an angel. It's hard to explain how she looked, but it was like a black and white photo. She was wearing all white and had dark hair. At first I actually thought there was a woman in my bedroom. I was really startled and I think she must not have wanted to scare me any further, because she turned around kind of walked/drifted out of my bedroom. I didn't realize until I put it together later that day that she was an angel.

Anyway, I think it's possible that you heard your Mom's voice psychically- maybe she was thinking or dreaming about you at that time and you were receptive to it in that state.

I've also never "heard" the voice of God, although I have received answers from Him, if that makes sense. They're always the things you KNOW are the right things to do and are completely free of selfishness or ego. If you ask a question and "receive" an answer that is tinged by selfishness in any way, you can be sure it didn't come from God.

[Modem Butterfly]

108. Did you sue?

LOL! Just kidding!

:evilgrin:

[Stirk]

19. Hmm. Well, I met Kim Basinger once.

So, yeah- I guess I have.

I'll never forget what she told me, either. She said, "just a medium diet coke, please". Those sagely words have sustained me in my times of trial. So to speak.

[ashmanonar]

27. try going into a woods far away from everything.

you'll hear all sorts of voices. maybe not legible, not speaking english or any human language....but there's voices just the same. it's amazing to stand in a woods or a field, and hear the voices of the gods in the whispers of wind. i've also seen a spirit of some sort before, in a wisp of flame. multiple times, actually.

[Modem Butterfly]

28. Tried it. Nothing happened

All I heard were birds, small woodland creatures, a brook, leaves, and the clouds go by. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, really, but not the voice of a deity either.

[ashmanonar]

33. then you aren't listening hard enough.

lol.

the sound of leaves, clouds going by, woodland creatures, and a brook ARE the voice of the gods.

if you're listening for a voice speaking into your ear, then you're gonna be disappointed. it's not about the voice you listen to, it's about listening to the langauge of the earth.

[gypsy11]

46. I totally agree! n/t

[Modem Butterfly]

52. This is the exact opposite of what I'm looking for

Any voice we ascribe to the sounds of nature is indistinguishable from the voices of our own egos. Which is why I'm interested in what audible, seemingly real or actual voices have said to DUers, assuming they've heard any.

But thanks for your contribution nonetheless.

[ashmanonar]

59. well, i see what you mean

but i dont' think you're gonna be hearing voices that you CAN'T ascribe to ego or schizophrenia. if you listen hard enough for something, you'll hear it whether it's there or not. i doubt that any god would wish to speak to humans right now anyways...and for besides, throughout history god didn't ever speak directly to humans. (i love the part in dogma about this). he/she/it always chose some intermediary, and who knows what form that intermediary might take?

divinity is what you want to see it in.

[Bouncy Ball]

55. Stare into the flame of a candle.

Look at the black part right next to the wick. Meditate on it. It's amazing.

No need for any drugs for this. Do it stone cold sober, it's the only way.

[catmandu57]

29. My uncle did

While sitting in a tree about an hour after ingesting two hits of lsd25. He and jesus had quite a talk, but, he said it was private and would only say he'd talked with jesus.
So, I don't know what jesus told him, but not long after that he thought he was a teacher and a preacher.

[natrat]

36. yea

he said to me "get your punk ass off the couch biatch and get me a six pack"

[eShirl]

39. "I am the Great and Powerful Oz!"

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

[nashville_brook]

41. not to be a total froot loop

i'm not a "religious" person by any means, but i made a decision some years ago -- after doing the walking in the the forest practice of meditation -- to "hear" the deity that manifests in every day life. it's there if you decide to pay attention.

i see the diety's kindness and innocence in my dogs.
the flowers sitting on my table communicate the diety's grace and economy.
my windchimes remind me of the changing moods of numinousity.

along these lines i was up in the mountains two weeks ago and went for a "reality-check" meditation in the forest and just got the creeps and had to leave. i got back down in the valley and felt safe again.

[ashmanonar]

60. yea, i have difficulty staying in a forest at night.

something about not knowing the alignment of any spirits or deities that might be there just creeps you out (if there's a benevolent god, there must be a malvolent god to balance it)...plus, i follow my instincts...if something scares me or freaks me out, it means i probably shouldn't stick around.

[amazona]

111. "The willies"

It could mean there was a predator there like a mountain lion. You could probably safely meditate on another night or in another forest. Back country campers report this.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[DrWeird]

42. I don't know which is worse.

People who actually hear voices telling them to do things, or people who just say God told them to do something because that's what they wanted to do anyways.

[KittyWampus]

81. How About People Who Have Exhausted All Rational Means Of Solving

a problem... and then get a flash of INTUITION?

And the answer is known even though all the empirical evidence and Deductive Reasoning alone couldn't account for that answer?

Intuition is the Universal Principle whereby Inductive Reasoning is employed.

But then Science Fundies don't like to acknowledge Inductive Reasoning or if they do, they minimize it's importance.

[ultraist]

43. LSD, Mescalline, Peyote Buttons, Endorphine High, Dreams...

Many things can create a such a state. Who is to say whether or not such experiences originate in the brain or elsewhere, either from a natural nuerophysiological reaction or a superficially imposed high?

Native Americans used peyote, Buddhists use meditation, Evangelicals use speaking in tongues, African tribes use dance, there are many ways to induce such a state.

[Done]

44. God told me not to respond to this question.

...He said it was a trick :crazy:

[htuttle]

49. "The Almighty says don't change the subject..."

"...-- just answer the fucking question."

In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. :)

[Cleita]

45. Every time I experience an earthquake, an electric storm or

hear waves breaking, or a mighty wind blowing, I hear the voice loud and clear.

[muriel_volestrangler]

84. I wish you hadn't put the word 'breaking' right next to 'a mighty wind'

it's got totally the wrong image in my mind now ...

[ashmanonar]

100. LOL

"and the lord thy god did breaketh a mighty wind, and all the world did feel that wind as a great stench, which hath covered all the lands. and lo, the sheep did collapse, and the herdsmen did fall upon thy faces in thy reverence."

[Cleita]

103. What do you think erupting volcanoes are about?n/t

[OneBlueSky]

47. only George Burns . . . n/t

.

[Blue_In_AK]

48. I saw the sky open up

and Jesus reach down like he was taking up the whole world into his arms, but I was high on some kind of psilocybin spores or something, so it probably wasn't the real deal.

[maveric]

50. John Facenda, "The Voice of God". Did NFL films for 30 years.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. I have felt the loving, enveloping presence twice in my life

but more often, God speaks to me in the form of an idea that won't go away or in a random comment spoken by someone else, or when circumstances fall together that force me into a certain course of action.

[Modem Butterfly]

53. How do you know the difference between that and your own ego?

I've got a friend who talks about hearing a "still, small voice" inside her. More often than not, though, that voice is telling her exactly what she wants to hear. My question is how can you tell the difference?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

79. Because it sometimes tells me what I don't want to hear

:-)

[Bouncy Ball]

54. Yes, I have. Once.

I was 16 years old. I was in my mother's Oldsmobile in the garage. The engine was on and I was waiting to die of carbon monoxide poisoning.

I was falling asleep in the backseat. I heard a voice, louder than anything you could imagine (very booming) and it seemed as if it were OUTSIDE of me, NOT in my head. It was so loud and sudden, I sat straight up, my heart beating hard in my chest, and I reached over and turned off the ignition and quickly got out of the car and the garage.

It said "I have always loved you."

That's it.

Now, ridicule away. It happened. There are probably a thousand "rational" explanations and I'm a very science-based person, but I happen to believe that was the voice of a Higher Power.

[Modem Butterfly]

56. Now THAT'S interesting

I think it's probably akin to my experience this AM, but this is interesting.

[Done]

57. Was that you in the garage?

I was trying to seduce the girl who lived next door to the wilsons.

[ieoeja]

64. The rational explanation: you were dying. n/t

[Bouncy Ball]

65. Yeah, and?

My dying brain created that voice and those words? I'm not being sarcastic, I do like rational explanations, too.

For instance, I don't for a SECOND believe in ghosts. I think there is ALWAYS a rational explanation for such things.

[Shopaholic]

77. Thanks for sharing your story Bouncy.

That was one of the most powerful things I've read lately.

I've never heard God speak to me but years ago, my Uncle was dying of cancer. I was shopping at the mall and clear as day, I heard him say my name. I looked all around me and no one was near me. It sounded exactly like him. I found later that he'd died at approximately the same time I heard his voice.

[bmbmd]

69. Beautiful. I would never ridicule you.

I heard a word that was personal and prophetic. That moment remains crystalized in my memory, and gives me chills even now as I recall it.
A simple, two-word message-as audible as if He were standing next to me. Changed my life.

[davekriss]

74. That, too, is wonderful

Thanks for sharing. :)

I have a PhD friend, a psychotherapist, who points out that experience of the Godhead can be tracked and traced to specific centers in the brain. I think this "rational" scientific explanation does not reduce the experience; it merely parallels it. What comes first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is "neither". In the ever-present never-ending becoming of all existence they appear simultaneously. So from whence do they come?

(I should add that my empirical friend is also a Jesuit and Buddhist, in fact an ardent disciple of the grace that flows from all religion.)

[Bouncy Ball]

85. I've studied Buddhism quite a bit

and am an admirer of that faith. It is so peaceful.

[knitter4democracy]

94. That sounds like the voice I heard.

It wasn't in my head, but only I heard it. It was very loud, too. Huh.

[LeftCoast]

104. I am so glad you listened to that voice

:hug:

[Quakerfriend]

58. I have had deceased relatives

come and speak to me. It's very interesting because they don't actually 'speak' as we think of it...They do not move their mouths but, you hear their thoughts.

[hunter]

61. Usually God just smacks me in the face with a two-by-four.

Sometimes I hear Him laughing. Does that count?

Seriously, if I paid any attention to some of the voices I've heard, I'd be crazy.

I remember I was sitting in front of my computer, and I'd been there quite a few hours writing code (6502 assembly language, in case anyone is interested) and I clearly heard my grandmother calling, "Darling, can you come over for just a minute?"

I extracted myself from my coding trance and I was standing up when I realized my grandma had died a few years before.

Probably it was some twitch of memory, no different than a muscle twitch, but you never know. I don't find such mysteries disturbing.

Mostly the only time I have "voices in my head" is when I'm reading or writing.

If I'm alone and I'm not reading or writing I can't maintain any sort of narrative in my head unless I talk out loud to myself. I can't even sing a complete song if I'm alone. I suppose I am a "visual" thinker.

So if God wants to talk to me, he's going to have to send some sort of vision...

Yeah, right, like this world needs my own crappy version of "Revelations."

[flobee1kenobi]

63. I've come pretty darn close!

Had a conversation with Paul Newman last summer:-)

even God calls this guy a badass!

[Lisa]

62. once, possibly

One evening about 5-6 years ago, I was boarding an inter-city bus in Vancouver, B.C. -- heading back to Vancouver Island after a working trip. I'd been thinking for a couple of months about leaving British Columbia and going back home to Ontario. I was still getting over a romantic breakup, my grad degree wasn't going very well, and I missed my family. I stowed my baggage, sat down, and was looking out the window at the blue twilight sky when I thought I heard someone say, "I'm glad you're here." Couldn't tell whether it was male or female, but middle-aged or older. I looked around and the bus was empty -- even the driver had gone for coffee. There wasn't anybody outside on the platform either.

I felt a lot more peaceful and reassured after that, and ended up staying to finish my degree and find a job. I haven't had any mysterious experiences since then, but that dark blue at twilight is more significant to me now.

[leftofthedial]

66. yes

KD Lang, 1996

[mdmc]

70. I want my party back... I want my counry back

[DemoTex]

71. Not yet. "George Bu$h, this World Court finds you guilty on all counts."

That will be God's voice to my ears.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

72. Yes, once after I ate the worm

From the bottom of a bottle of mezcal I polished off with two friends.

It said, "Okay, this is God talking, and I'm about to tell you something really important, and I want you to listen very carefully, because I'm god, and I have something really important to tell you, so it's really important that you listen carefully, etc. etc. without actually getting to the point ever.

A lot like thoughts on mushrooms. I think possibly the worms they use eat a psychedelic cactus.

[mr blur]

73. Yes... the Voice...

it tells me to start the fires...

[LSK]

75. i think andrea corr is a goddess and i saw the corrs in concert

Does that count? ;)

[donheld]

76. Yes, I've heard Eric Clapton

[loudestchick]

78. No, I suffer from no mental illness.

[Guy Fawkes]

80. Yes. It said "meow...."

so I put more food into its bowl.

[knitter4democracy]

107. I had a ghost cat in an apartment I lived in once.

I swear there was a cat in that place. I could feel it walk in the room. I would hear it sometimes. Even my then-fiance, now-husband thought it was there. Maybe cats are otherworldly. :)

[dbt]

82. It said: "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash!"

[DARE to HOPE]

86. Yes. Twice. Very vivid. And sort of telepathic, like others have said.

The first time was when I was in college. An influential charismatic Christian was trying to convince us students of the sign of glossolalia as a sign from God of being a "real" Christian. I ran out into the night in the grass outside, and prayed hard, gnashing my teeth. "Oh Lord, oh, Lord, is this what I should do, should be?"

I heard as clearly as if another person said it, though it came from deep within my brain: "The greatest of these is Love...."

Wow. Of course God could quote scripture. :-)

It gave me complete peace. And I have tried to Love the world ever since.


The other vivid words were when I was out east with my mother. I love her dearly, but neither she nor my father could really share love with us, mostly criticism. And here she was distressed over my need (she thought) for a surgery she herself had had, which I did not want! I argued with her, "It is MY body, it is MY decision, Mom, I am DIFFERENT from you!" Nevertheless, it was enough for her to withdraw her love, and shame me deeply in my body and soul.

I was a mess by the time I went to bed. Sobbing as silently as I could, wishing I had not been born, if my own mother did not love me. Just really suicidal, so so sad.

I then heard, deep in my soul, in my brain, in fact, physically, surrounding me in the bed, "I AM your Mother and your Father! I AM your Mother and your Father!" I heard, and I felt, God's Love so rich and sure, almost as if there were arms around me.

I have been able to cherish my Mom since, even when she is unhappy with me, seeing the child within the grown-up that God sees in each of us.


I was stuck for a long while, having had critical parents, and being the oldest, I always was so perfectionistic about everything. It was on a walk out in our local woods with my husband that I suddenly just "knew" all those "shoulds" that I constantly crucified myself on, WERE NOT EVEN FROM GOD AT ALL!! That He was Laughter and Playful and so so Loving.

The place I really learned this lesson was teaching myself organ. I was a voice major, and piano minor, and learned to practice to perfection as a child, stopping at every mistake. I learned the organ because I so wanted to play, to understand Bach, which fit in nicely into my husband's Lutheran congregation.

I learned to skip right over all the little mistakes. I mean, splitting your brain into 3 parts! Not easy! And so much joy, whether chorale preludes or decorating the hymns! I learned from HIM to laugh, and celebrate, and worship through all that playing, that each"mistake" was so small compared to the whole. Of course, I learned what jazz musicians learn, to "improvise!" That means, there ARE NO wrong notes!! :-)


I have other vivid experiences as well, if not words. Look for mountain top experiences when you lose a loved one. I tell you, God loves us all SO MUCH. He will give you reassurances and little signs when you are at your most vulnerable. My own father died in 1996--and I have talked with him, felt him near, since that time, even with all the emotional distress that once was attached to our relationship.


Pray. Pray, dear friends. And read the Psalms, or Jesus' teachings in Matthew, or, my favorite, the little book of Jonah. And He WILL answer, even if it is through the television, radio, Internet, a friend's touch or words, or a bird flying by, as in "Touched By An Angel."

I have experienced some answers through car crashes, in the timing of phone calls or of events. And, you know, our favorite: my husband and I walk (or did before this LONG WINTER) in the local forest every morning, and suddenly, even in the haze, even on rainy days, the sun peeks through. We started joking that God was checking up on us (Lar's an oldest child, too)--then started to feel the sense of play and joy that one gets from walks in the morning (some still huff and puff by us, but we also have a nice group of folks who actually smile and say "hi!" too.) We sing to the deer, and speak happy things to the birds.

But every time we see that sun, shining through the haze, or delighting our eyes over the trees, we feel His Love surround and delight us, even if we were sad before. And I puzzled over this; I mean, we do not believe in a sun god. But I have come to believe this:

God loves us all SO MUCH--He/She/God will find ANY WAY TO REACH US to let us know that. And He knows that the two of us look for His sun in the morning, and, by golly, He is faithful, and we laugh in joy.



BTW--five degrees in this household, his are physics and math, PhD in ancient Semitic history and culture, seminary with both Hebrew and Greek, mine are applied music and political science. No fundies here.

PS--it was my story, too, in case you missed it, but relevant here: one of our young soldiers, attached to our parish, was in that tent in Mosul. She walked out with a friend not ten minutes before the explosion, due to a "feeling" she had. Every kid came home last year from our church's prayer list. God answers prayer. And LISTEN to that intuition. It is His gift.

[Haymare22]

87. Does a....

...firm hand on the back count? A firm hand was felt when I had a choice to make and feeling the push helped me walk where I needed.
I will never forget it....

[KG]

88. dropped some acid, and played inna-gadda-da-vida backwards-

[WillowTree]

90. My former boyfriend...

....thinks he's a god. Does that count?

He said, "You need me."

What a doofus.

(He's wrong, by the way. VERY wrong. On many, many counts.)

[IndyPriest]

91. I haven't. But several friends have.

They've gone through "near death" experiences. Have had the same elements as reported in many posts here: strong, vivid sense of being surrounded by presence, bliss, light, unconditional love. Telepathically heard very clear voice of support, eternal love, etc. Not a fundie among them. Two of them PhDs in brain research. Absolutely changed their lives. Much more committed to service, making the world a better place, tolerance, love for the planet -- and much less tolerance for bullshit, political or religious.

[ArcRabbit]

92. Actually, Yes

But no one would ever believe me. Especially on these board...


Edit: But if anyone really wants to know, it was late at night and I was just sitting in front of the computer not praying or anything and I heard.. more like in my head. Like a voice that was bouncing around inside my skull. It didn't hurt and I wasn't scared at all. But all of a sudden a voice just.. exploded in my mind (I'm a liberal christian btw and never heard any voices before or since) that was just simply "I love you". Nothing more...

[IndyPriest]

95. Nice! - And don't worry about the naysayers! n/t

[knitter4democracy]

93. I did. Twice.

I was in a church service as a teenager, dragged there by my mom who was worried about me. I was on a dark path at the time, not doing too well, I guess. Anyway, He spoke to me. He told me that I had to choose Him. We actually had a conversation, but apparently non one near me heard it. Freaked me out, let me tell ya. Changed my life, though. The second time was to tell me that I'm to be a missionary. That freaked me out too but not as much as the first time.

Then, there's the time I prayed the night before the first date with my now-husband, then love-interest and asked God to call him as a missionary too if we were to get married. I was tired of dating only to waste my time and told God that, since He's in that business, if He wanted us to get married to call dh as a missionary and let me know. The next night, on our date, dh started telling me all about why he wanted to become a doctor and about ten minutes before we got to the movie theater, he started telling me how, when he was praying the night before (at the same time I had been, oddly enough), he really felt that God was calling him as a missionary. Apparently, I turned green. We got married, though--seven and a half years and two kids later, we're still together.

Btw, I'm not a freeper or fundie. I know that'll seem odd, but I'm actually Eastern Orthodox. God is very real to me, even though He's never spoken to me since.

[DARE to HOPE]

97. Wow...

[knitter4democracy]

106. I don't normally talk about it, understandably . . .

Maybe that's why I like "Wonderfalls" so much--I really don't think she's crazy. It can feel like that, though . . .

[New Earth]

96. yes

well sort of. they don't speak in audible words but in more like a universal energy-transmitted type of communication. felt the presence of one (Horus when i got my tattoo) - actually it was a combination of an embrace, a warmth, a recognition, and the feeling of becoming protected by the symbol and the spirit behind it.

had another help me get to sleep.....could never figure out who it was that night but they sure were trying be a smart ass (a Kemetic/Ancient Egyptian 'God')

[ashmanonar]

102. i've also had a little girl brush by my back when i was in

georgia. only there was noone in the room...

:wow:

let's just say that i was freaked out for a while. i had the feeling, especially heightened by the circumstances (in an old slave-house from the civil war) that it was a little slave girl...a friend who's very VERY perceptive/psychic pulled the story out of my brain like 2 years after, about a little girl who was being beaten...

*shudders*. suffice to say, that night i didn't sleep well.

[LeahD]

105. Not a diety, but

my sister was at home one night with a friend there, and she heard, "MOM!" (And her friend heard the voice too.) My sister thought it was her older son, who wanted to come in, but the doors were locked. She checked all of her doors, but no one was there. The next morning, she discovered that her younger son who was away at college, was being put in an ambulance at the time she heard the voice. (He was injured playing basketball, but it wasn't serious.)

I have another experience that didn't involve a voice, but there was "communication." I had taken our dog to her kennel for the night, and after shutting the chain link gate, I reached in through the fencing to give her one last pet, and when I pulled my hand back out, I caught my ring, and the large opal went flying. I searched for 15-20 minutes in gravel looking for the opal. No luck. I decided I'd begin the search again in the morning, and I turned to walk up to the house. A ray of light from the sun was shining down through a shrubby pinon tree that was next to the kennel...I thought, "How odd." At the end of the beam of light, in the pine needles at the base of the tree, was the opal. Every time I think of that moment, I smile.

To the naysayers.....if you have an open mind and open heart, you will experience the unexplainable. Pay attention to those little sychronicities. Oh...and that tingle you get down your spine??? I read in a book that it's the recognition of truth. Life is full of mystery and wonder and Grace.

Has anyone out there seen the movie about physicis and spirituality, "What the Bleep Do We Know?"

[DireStrike]

109. Sorta

I chalk this up to some weird fluke of neurons, but if I had been religious I would definitely say it was god.

I was sitting on the train on my morning commute to school (yes, train) ogling girls nearby. I wouldn't call it hearing, exactly... it was like a thought that wasn't mine. It said "His power corrupts." Very strange. I stopped looking at the girls. :D

[DireStrike]

110. I hear music when I stay up long hours

Not like remembered music, just random music.